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Colorado health insurance premiums could see slight rise, study says

A sign placed out on the 16th Street Mall, beckons people to sign up for health insurance through the Affordable Care Act, Monday, March 24, 2014. (Kathryn Scott Osler, The Denver Post)

Colorado could see an average health insurance premium increase of 3.6 percent next year for plans under the Affordable Care Act, according to a preliminary analysis of 2015 individual market rate filings by a research group.

The Health Research Institute of PricewaterhouseCoopers this week said the 2015 insurance landscape is beginning to emerge for the 27 states that have publicly released rate filings.

The average rate increase from reporting states and the District of Columbia is 7.5 percent, with an average monthly premium before federal subsidies of $384.

In Colorado, the average premium increase was 3.6 percent, but some carriers dropped rates 22 percent while one proposed a 35 percent increase. Between 1991 and 2009, Colorado personal health care costs averaged an annual increase of 7.3 percent.

Colorado's average premium, without a subsidy, is projected to be $411 a month in 2015. But tax credits were substantial in 2014, with more than half of enrollees receiving one. The Colorado health insurance exchange reported the average subsidy was $277 a month.

Insurers had to submit rate and benefit information by June 6 for the 2015 plan year to the Colorado Division of Insurance, which then publicly released raw filings June 23.

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The division will continue its examination of proposed rates through summer — during which Colorado consumers can submit public comment. In September, regulators will notify carriers of approved plans, with rates effective Jan. 1, 2015.

The PwC analysis also saw an uptick in participation on the exchanges of several large commercial insurers.

As the state exchanges gain traction for individual purchases, the study said, some employer-based plans are converting to private exchanges. Big converts include IBM, Sears and Walgreens.

The study also noted that new health care co-ops — consumer-run or nonprofit insurers created under the federal health care act — have plans priced comparably, or even lower, than for-profit competitors in Colorado and seven other states.